South America business card of the continent. Traveling around South America

Guatemala (Spanish: Guatemala), Republic of Guatemala is a state in Central America. The largest in terms of population (13 million people in 2008) of the Central American republics. The population is mainly mestizos (58%) and Indians (40%). Spanish state of Central America 2008 mestizos Indians At the beginning of the 20th century, the bulk of the population of Guatemala were Indians (65% in the 1920s), but there is a process of mixing Indians with mestizos, and they are moving into the category of so-called “ladinos” (they switch to Spanish language, culture and customs).XX century

There are several theories regarding the origin of the name of the state of Honduras, but to date none of them has scientific basis. According to one legend, the name of the country comes from a statement by Christopher Columbus during his last, fourth voyage to the New World in 1502. His ship was caught in a severe storm, and when he managed to escape, he said: “Gracias a Dios que hemos salido de estas ... and then he added ... honduras” (translation: “I thank God that we have come out of these depths”). This phrase gave the name to Cape Gracias a Dios and the country of Honduras. The depths off the coast of Honduras are really great, so this name could have been given independently of the said phrase of Columbus. [The first mention of the name "Honduras" to refer to the area west of Cape Gracias a Dios appeared in texts in 1607. Christopher Columbus 1502)